Street fill box



June 10, 1941. c. F. MYERS STREET FILL BOX Filed Aug. 8, 1938 gym/m01/2/7155 f Mrsas Patented June 10, 1941 stares 1 Claim.

This invention relates to detachable closures for the inlet ends ofunderground containers for the storage of gasoline and similarcommodities dispensed from surface pumps. In order to provide forconvenient access and yet at the same time eliminate the hazardspresented by pipe ends which project above ground, present installationsat filling stations and the like employ what are known as fill boxessecured on the upper ends f storage k l t pip these being provided withdetachable closures disposed flush with the street or runway surface inwhich the boxes are embedded. As such closures are constantly subjectedto strains and shocks from the wheels of heavily loaded vehicles whichpass over them the problem of maintaining an adequate water tight andgas tight seal at the closure is serious, bearing in mind that suchclosures must prevent the escape of explosive gases as well as inwardseepage of water, oil and foreign matter, and yet they must not projector extend in any way above the plane of the surface in which they arelocated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a street fill boxhaving a detachable sealing closure spring tensioned in uniform flatlyseated sealing engagement with its box through the agency of lockingmeans engaging the box in a manner to prevent any tilting of the closurewith respect to the axis of its box.

Another object is to provide a novel construction of a street fill boxof a sturdy, durable character, and which is simple and capable ofeconomic production.

Other objects will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The present disclosure constitutes a practical embodiment of the bestmeans I have thus far devised for reducing the invention to practice,and it is to be understood that within the scope of the invention asclaimed various changes and modifications may be made as desired in thestructural details. I

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of referencedesignate like parts throughout the several views:

Figure l is a top plan view of my improved fill box with closureremoved.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the closure plate.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the closure with its associatedlocking means.

Figure 5 is a bottom perspective view of the locking member. In theillustrated embodiment the fill box comprises a cylindrical pipe casting6 thickened in cross section of its walls at the lower end portion toprovide an internal annular shoulder l, the reduced bore of the castingbeing internally threaded as at 8 to take over the upper end of astorage container inlet pipe, not shown.

At its upper end the casting is laterally enlarged to provide anexternal annular flange 9 for ground seating purposes, the bore of thecasting being diametrically increased at its upper end portion toprovide a flat internal annular shoulder It on which is seated a sealingring I! of compressible elastic material, preferably rubber,circumferentially anchored in an annular retaining channel l2 formed inthe wall of the enlarged section of the casting bore.

The interior of the casting is further formed at diametrically opposedpoints with a pair of axially extending ribs l3 which terminate flushwith the shoulder ill at their upper ends and adjacent the shoulder l attheir lower ends. Each rib I3 merges at its upper end portion with anarcuate rib l4 extending circumferentially on the inner face of thecasting and having a fiat top face flush with and forming a continuationof the shoulder Hi, the respective ribs [3 being disposed at one end ofeach arcuate rib M.

The other end l5 of each arcuate rib terminates in spaced relation fromthe adjacent longitudinal rib l3 to provide, as seen in Figure 1,relatively large equal arcuate slots l6 at diametrically opposed points.The bottom of each arcuate rib is formed with a somewhat rounded camedge portion Il inclined upwardly from its bottom face beginning at apoint approximately one third the length of the rib inwardly from theend I5 and continuing to that end, the remainder of the bottom facebeing parallel to its upper fiat face.

The closure comprises a circular plate having a fiat top face andadapted to fit snugly within the upper end of the box casting flush withits top edge. This plate l8 has a flat under face around its edge whichis adapted to seat on the sealing ring II when the closure is applied.Depending centrally from the bottom face of the closure is a circularbase l9 having a depending reduced extension 20 whereof at least twoopposed sides are substantially straight. A stem 2! extends axially fromthe portion 20 and is threaded at its lower end to receive a retainingnut 22 backing a washer 23 which seats the lower end of a coil expansionspring 24 surrounding the stem 2| and bearing at its upper end againstthe base ex tension 20.

A floating locking member 25 having a central slot 26 conforming to theconfiguration of the closure base extension 2!] slides axially over andupon the extension, the under face of the member being axially bored fora portion of its thickness to provide a circular housing socket 27 whichreceives the upper end of the spring 24. The lock member is centrallythickened toward the base l9 against which it normally bears under theinfluence of the spring 24 acting against the webs 28 at the sides ofthe slot 26. Ears 29 extend radially from the lock member atdiametrically opposite points. One diagonally opposite pair of sideedges 36 on the ears is made substantially straight edged with flat sidefaces while the other diagonal pair of side edges are rounded to formcam surfaces 3l. As shown in Figure 4, the combined thickness of theclosure base l9 and central portion of the lock member serves to spacethe ears 29 from the closure plate an axial distance somewhat lesserthan the axial distance between the top face of the sealing ring I I andthe bottom face of the arcuate ribs I4.

An important feature of the invention resides in the fact that theoverall distance from the tip of one look ear 29 to the tip of the otheris but slightly less than the diameter of the bore of the castingbetween the shoulders I and II], and the thickness of the ears, axiallywith respect to the closure, is sufficiently great to preclude anyrocking of the lock member when the closure is applied. Otherwiseexpressed, the lock member is restrained against oscillation on an axisat right angles to the longitudinal axis of the ears, due to the factthat the outer ends of the ears bear against the walls of the castingbore.

The upper face of the closure plate is formed with a tool engageablesocket 32 for cooperation with a suitable tool, not shown, of the T headwrench type by which the closure may be turned, and applied ordisengaged.

In service, the closure plate is applied by seating it on the sealingring H with the ears 29 of the lock member passed through the arcuateslots IS. The closure is then given a quarter turn to engage the roundedcam surfaces of the locking ears beneath the cams ll of the arcuate ribson the casting 6, whereupon the lock member is forced axially downwardcompressing the strong spring 24. At the completion of a quarter turnthe ears 29 will have become engaged beneath the flat under faces of thearcuate holding ribs I4, and the tension of the spring 24 expandingagainst the washer 23 will pull the closure strongly and firmly downagainst the sealing ring II on which it bears flatly and with a uniformpressure around its entire edge. Thus the closure is maintained firmlyseated on the sealing ring under a constant spring tension applied inthe axis of the closure until released.

The ends of the locking ears 29 bear against the walls of the castingbore, as previously described, and thus prevent any tilting of theclosure with respect to the axis of the casting 6. Accordingly, theclosure is held at all times in fiat uniform bearing engagement againstthe sealing ring, and the top face of the closure is maintained flushwith respect. to the flat top edge of the fill box.

When the closure is to be removed a reverse turn is imparted thereto.The locking ears ride out from beneath the cams I1 until their flat sidefaces 3| abut against the axial ribs l3, which prevents further turningof the closure. When this abutting engagement occurs the ears 29 will beproperly registered with the arcuate slots IE so that the closure may belifted freely from the box. The straight inner edges of the lock memberwebs 28 which form the sides of the slot 26 are engaged at all timeswith the straight sides of the base extension 26 so that the lock memberturns with the closure but is free to be moved axially with respectthereto.

I claim:

A fill box comprising a hollow tubular member having a pipe attachableend, an annular sealing member in its other end, a circular closureplate adapted to seat against the sealing member and rotatable in theend of said tubular member, an arcuate rib extending circumferentiallyon the inner face of said tubular member, an axial extension dependingfrom said closure plate, a lock member guided on said extension forrotation therewith and for movement axially thereon, spring meansbetween a portion of said extension and the lock member and urging saidlock member towards the closure plate, cooperating cam faces on saidarcuate rib and lock memher for camming said lock member downwardlyagainst tension of the spring means when the closure plate is rotated inone direction, whereby to draw the closure plate firmly down against thesealing member, and said lock member having end portions engageableagainst a wall of said tubular member and of a sufficient bearing extentto prohibit tilting of said extension and closure plate with respect tothe axis of said tubular member.

CHARLES F. MYERS.

